Here is a list of the current videos I have uploaded to YouTube – please take a moment to view, rate, comment, subscribe, and share! Whew – that was a long list lol – THANK YOU!!
Keith 
Videos of Rodney Keith Richardson [in the order they were uploaded to YouTube]
It’s been a while since my website www.RodneyKeithRichardson.com has been updated but the construction has finally finished and it’s online right now. Please take a moment to view my new site and if you haven’t already, bookmark it so you won’t forget me – lol!
Just click here to visit now –> http://www.RodneyKeithRichardson.com
P.S. It’s also iPad and tablet friendly!
There are a few simple things that artists and musicians [you know, the creative types] either overlook or don’t have time to deal with when it comes to building your web presence. With that in mind I’ve put together a little list of things I do to promote myself and my creativity online.
CREATE AN ONLINE STARTING PLACE [HOMEBASE]
To start with I have a domain name and website which acts as my “hub” for everything else. Contrary to the perception of many, this is not an expensive venture and can be handled by even the most “starving” of artists. [I use godaddy.com to host my website.] I was also able to purchase my name to use as a URL – something you should strongly consider over a fancy-smancy name.
http://www.rodneykeithrichardson.com
Both of these URL’s go to the same place. For basically 8 bucks a year no one else in the entire world can “own” my name. Way cool!
Put everything YOU on this website. Link to everything else we’ll discuss and add information about everything. This is your chance to tell the whole wide world [www...] who you are, what you do, and why you do what you do. There’s no per word charge so really knock yourself out here. Give your history, show your work, express your opinions . . . I mean just go crazy.
Here’s the question that finally motivated me to action:
If you don’t promote yourself and your creativity, who’s gonna?
We’ve been taught all our lives to be polite and show others courtesy by esteeming their opinions and such higher than our own. Hey, that’s a great way to live your life but…
right now you’re trying to get the attention of the entire world so a little “horn tooting” is DEFINITELY in order. Besides, in the spirit of what I said earlier, “If you don’t toot your horn, who’s gonna toot it for you?”
So don’t be timid – tell everything. Don’t be shy – stand-up on that stage and SHOUT to everyone that you are here, you have important creative passions to share, and they need to stop what they’re doing and take a look!
ESTABLISH (OR DISCOVER) YOUR BRAND
Something very important I’ve learned the hard way as an artist and a musician; my name and my face ARE my brand and if you know even a little bit about marketing, then you know in our modern Internet and media-savvy world your brand is everything (even though it’s losing place to SEO).
EXAMPLE:
This is “my brand:”
Rodney Keith Richardson
RodneyKeithRichardson
R.K. Richardson
RKRichardson
rk_richardson
RKR
rkr
In other words, my name, in one fashion or another is used in everything I publish online. Likewise, so is a picture of my face. Whether you think I’m pretty or not is irrelevant. Just think, the following logo isn’t necessarily a pretty face, but I’ll bet the farm you know what company it represents.
[No, this is not the Windows 8 logo.]
START A BLOG (AS IN SPEAK YOUR MIND)
Tell the world what’s happening with you and your creations. As you grow as an artist, so will your audience. Don’t worry if your mother and your significant other are the only ones who read it at first. When it comes to blogs, persistence is a major player (not the only one but a biggie). Don’t forget to link your homebase to your blog and vice versa. BTW – you’re reading my blog. I use WordPress.com as a blogging platform mainly because I like the way they handle everything for me (and I’m a busy guy).
Why I use WordPress.com blogs vs. Self-hosted WordPress blogs [and FYI I could if I really wanted to and had a whole lot of extra time on my hands]:
#1 – - WordPress.com handles all the spam (automatically) for me and I don’t ever have to see it or deal with it. This is a feature I’d gladly pay for but it’s totally free!
#2 – - WordPress.com takes care of all the maintenance on the server side of my blog and, once again, I don’t have to worry about that headache. My nights look like this; Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I can’t say enough about all the great things that WordPress.com offers – and I’ve never spent a dime with them (unless I wanted to).
PUT YOUR WORDS INTO ACTION (QUIET ON THE SET…)
The next place I point creative folks to is Youtube.com – another just drop-dead awesome self-marketing tool that costs $0 – nada. I spent some time trying to figure out a creative medium that couldn’t take advantage of Youtube in one way or another and I really couldn’t. It doesn’t matter if you sing or dance or write or paint or or cough up snot, you can make a video about it and put it on Youtube for everyone in the universe (including ET) to watch. Seriously, I watched a Youtube video yesterday of a guy painting a really cool picture of Lady Gaga with his penis – HIS PENIS. Yes, I’m rolling and laughing on the floor so give me a second to get up….
All joking aside – it is really a good idea to set-up a Youtube account. First of all you can take a short video of some of your works [or you] and post it there to embed in other websites. Secondly, it’s another avenue of getting your name and face [your brand, remember] in front of people. All in all, it’s just one of those really cool free Internet tools that allows you to reach an audience even farther away than you think.
Here’s a promo video I have posted on my Youtube Channel, rkrpiano, that I can embed on any of my sites:
IT’S TIME TO GET SOCIAL BABY!
Let’s face it – Twitter and Facebook are where it’s happening at! One added bonus to setting up accounts here – you can set your blog to post to your Twitter and your Facebook and then set Twitter and Facebook to post to each other. On the surface this might sound redundant [welcome to the department of redundancy department] but it’s a really smart move considering that the God of the Internet universe, Google is watching your moves [page links] and you’re just improving your standing with him every time something of yours posts somewhere else. Add to this mix Feedburner (now owned by God…uh-hem…I mean Google itself) and you can have posts posting and reposting throughout the known universe.
Another really cool tool I add to this mix is TwitterFeed (just Google it). It’s an amazing little application that just scouts all of your feeds [that you assign it to] and then posts them on Twitter (which then posts to Facebook, Feedburner…which then posts them to… you get the idea). [There's really no end to how many times this article that you're reading is posting around the Internet, not including the increase in number of times and places when you like it or tweet it.]
Don’t forget good established websites like LinkedIN (for businesses and if you’re an artist then you’re a business) and StubleUpon and the many others that are out there. Just Google “Social Network Sites” and you’ll have something to do for the next few evenings.
This blog, rkrichardson.wordpress.com posts directly to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Yahoo, Google, MSN and from there it goes to the whole world, including Feedburner who sends it into Internet oblivion [including my Homebase, www.RodneyKeithRichardson.com]. Wow! – is that cool or what???
DON’T JUST SHOW OFF – MAKE SOME CASH $$$ (OOO LAH LAH FOR MOO LAH LAH)
So here’s where the rubber meets the road – are you just “out there” to show your stuff off or are you trying to forge a living from your craft? If the first option is what you desire then just get yourself a Facebook Personal Page and a Twitter account and you’re done. On the other hand, if you’re wanting to make a living or even just put some extra mullah into your pocket, then you’re going to want to find somewhere to display your artistic creations that also happens to have a shopping cart system.
For visual artists like photographers and painters, there’s a number of solutions available. Personally, I’ve done quite a bit of research into this area and I’ve decided on two very different services for myself: Zenfoio and deviantART [ http://www.zenfolio.com and http://www.deviantart.com ]. Both of these online art gallery and selling services are a great place to do business with. Keep in mind, they are very different in nature and style but both will display your art as well as sell it.
Zenfolio is my main “storefront” because it offers so much customization in such a transparent yet robust manner. They use MPix as their photo lab and I must say I’ve always been very impressed with what they deliver – I mean REALLY IMPRESSED. I use them mainly for prints of my artwork and photographs.
Then there is deviantART. It’s really an artist community so it’s just chock-full of the artsy-fartsy type of people (the kind of wonderful folks I love to hang with). There’s so much to see and do so it’s more of a community feel. They also offer a simple path to offer my images in cool product forms like mugs, mousepads, and puzzles. I was really taken back by how good some of my images look when placed on a magnet or a coaster.
The final piece [to my puzzle] is Etsy. This service is for all items handmade (my art and photos are considered handmade since I “created” them) and it’s a really good place to show off your individual items. I use it mainly to sell individual and specialized products.
Of course all of these services come at a price so be prepared to whip out your VISA card. On the flip side, it’s a marvel at how just a few short years ago this outlet wasn’t even available for artists. I really do love the modern age and all of it’s conveniences.
SUMMING IT ALL UP [aka I'm getting tired of writing and need to land this plane...]
There are so many wonderful (and free) tools available for artists, photographers, and other creatives to use so invest a little time, a little effort, and you can get your message out to everyone who will listen. While I understand that my little list is in no wise exhaustive, I hope it will be a catalyst to at least get you started on your way to showing the world the creative genius that you are.
Happy sailing!
Keith
Yep – I’ve been workin’ my [little I wish] tail off the past few weeks trying to get my online galleries open for business. You might say I haven’t got everything in there yet but I have enough to get the ribbons cut and start.
You have to understand this is part of my dream. I may not ever sell a single item from this website, but I have met a goal, climbed a mountain, and succeeded – if only in my own mind! lol – hooray for me!
Please visit – enjoy – comment – BUY!! 
Rodney Keith Richardson’s Online Photo Art Studio & Store
Rodney Keith Richardson’s Online Art Gallery & Store
oh yeah . . . btw . . . share the link and the luvvvv!
Keith
So I’m a little bored this afternoon having done the “artsy-fartsy” thing all day, and I decided to have a little fun and do some online exploring in the process.
So I did something that I only recommend for the brave at heart – I did a Google image search on my name just to see what might come up. Well, here’s the results . . .
The first picture of me that was worth considering was actually a pair that I’ve had online for several years so no big deal here.
and this one 
Sprinkled throughout the variety are piano shots from years of Youtube and Daily Motion, as well as several from blogs that have come and gone. Still no big deal.
Of course I have to deal with the inevitable Keith Richards (why oh why does his name have to be close to mine – I mean really? – seriously? what a retard of a human being!)
Then things started getting interesting. I came across this guy
and this guy 
and this one 
still not to bad. I’m not really sure how to explain these . . .
or 
though the more I look at her the more familiar she becomes. Oh well, that’s a whole other can of worms . . .
Then there was this guy 
(nope – don’t even go there) and this one 
which is going to become my new Avatar everywhere (thank you very much).
But then I came across this picture and I was speechless.
OMG! I laughed so hard I hurt myself – really. OMG! What happened to the gene pool with this one?? I honestly thought about writing a nasty email to Google telling them to CEASE IMMEDIATELY letting this picture come up when my name is put in. Don’t believe me? Do a Google image search on my name (Rodney Keith Richardson, R.K. Richardson, R.Keith Richardson, Keith Richardson) and see what happens.
Okay – so I’m not so bored anymore. Maybe a little scared – but certainly not bored.
